Sleeping Handsome
by Morgane Lurker
Summary: During a calm evening at La Vrei, Morpheus tells Sati the fairy tale of Sleeping Handsome... Crossover between Matrix and Sleeping Beauty. [Neo x Trinity].
1. Prologue

Inspired by Agent Alexandra Paris's hilarious Cinderella/Matrix crossover _Agent Cinderella_, this, fellows, is a crossover between Matrix and Sleeping Beauty. Hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as we liked writing it!

/Morgane and Meowen

**Sleeping Handsome**

_**Prologue**_

**Once upon a time…**

They were three in the room: The unhappily married couple, and a cloaked man in shades.

"Canon? What canon?"

Merovingian's voice was rigorous and penetrating like a wasp sting, his hands clamping and unclamping on the white table linen.

"Whatever _imbecile__'_ said so, I'll kill them!"

Persephone placed an appeasing hand over her husband's right one.

"It's only temporary canon, dearest. Morpheus has told me so."

Eyes like narrow slits instantly turned to her._ "You _arranged this?" was the Frenchman's distrustful reaction, but his wife just smiled secretively. "Why?" He spat.

"Couldn't you two be nice and cooperative just this once?" The man in shades sat comfortably splayed out in his precious armchair, tapping a hardback book with leather covers against the arm support. Merovingian's eyebrow twitched at him.

"Ah, I was forgetting our guest. The reason for your visit - and I hope it's an adequate one this time?"

Morpheus took a deep breath. Before coming here, he had traced the chain of events as far back as he thought was suitable:

"Heart attack."

By Zion's mainframe, the Frenchman must think he was kidding him.

"Heart attack? Excuse me, I'm obviously not a doctor…"

"Sati's old hamster Melvin died yesterday from one, which made her sad because he was her favourite pet, but noone had time to comfort her, sans the Oracle who promised to read Sati a fairy tale to cheer her up." The computer terrorist put his feet down, and leaned forward in the seat. "But then the Oracle's cookies got burnt in the oven, and I had to become a stand-in narrator for the fairytale while she's cleaning her kitchen."

With this Morpheus thought he had burned all bridges to further questioning, but he'd been mistaken.

"And what caused the hamster's heart attack?"

"Oh please, Armel!'' Persephone lashed out at her husband, "we know you like the feeling of omniscience, but there's no need to shove it down our throats!"

It's been said that men rule the world and women rule the men. At this moment it seemed to include the Merovingian and his wife, because after a brief perplex moment and a stern glare from Persephone he tried a more relevant question:

"Well then, Morpheus, why do you need to integrate the entire Matrix in this?"

"Because Sati has no idea what a spindle or a fairy is. I considered it easier to use elements the girl recognizes from her own world."

Tracing the rim of his wine glass with a pale finger, Merovingian put two and two together.

"Spindles and fairies… You're going to tell her the story of _La Belle_, hmm?" He faced Morpheus with renewed interest."Who would play the part as the Sleeping Beauty? Is it going to be the beautiful Trinity or-''

"No, Neo will."

A moment of silence, then…

"_What?__"_ Merovingian shot up from his chair like a cork out of a bottle neck. "Why? _'La Belle au bois dormant'_ is supposed to be a tale about a _female_ person!"

"We're all trying to give Sati a good upbringing, and that includes breaking the stereotypes of traditional gender roles," Morpheus stated. "Consider the story renamed as 'Sleeping Handsome'".

Merovingian couldn't find reasons enough to argue this. Sighing heavily he sat back down in his chair, regaining his composure before asking next question, gesticulating towards Persephone and himself: "What would our part in this be?"

"The King and the Queen". Stealthily, the bald man opened his book; maybe they would get somewhere tonight. But once again, his thoughts were interrupted by the Frenchman's voice.

"This means I get to order people around."

"How very clever of you, my love" came the dull insert from Persephone.

"Even the One?" Merovingian took no notice of the snide comment, his cheeks reddening with either the enlivening effect of too many drinks or too much excitement.

Morpheus nodded slowly in response.

"_Especially_ the One?"

"…Yes". This time, the man hesitated a moment before answering.

A greedy glimpse lit up in the Frenchman's eyes, and his back straightened. "Well then, why not? Show your little friend in!" The Merovingian was uncharacteristically hearty - but at the other hand he did not exactly wallow in chances to have the One paying back for his rampaged chateau…

During Sati's wait outside La Vrei's empty dining hall, even more people had come to join her. When Morpheus began reading, Niobe took her stand behind the chair surrounded by Sati, Mouse, Spoon Boy and the Kid.

"Once upon a time…"  
-

_ To be continued..._

* * *

I'd also like to credit The Smiling Shadow for being the first I've seen to name naming Merovingian 'Armel' in her fanfic Asylum. Go read the story, one of the best AU Matrix fics I've read!

A/N 20.09.2011: Minor edits and grammar corrections.

- Morgane


	2. Once upon a time

And here it is, chapter one, mostly written by Meowen. Enjoy!

* * *

_**Sleeping Handsome**_

**Chapter One**

**Once upon a time..**

A long time ago, in the far-away country Matrix, lived King Merovingian and his beautiful wife, Queen Persephone. Though they had nearly everything they could ever dream of, they were not satisfied as their greatest wish remained unfulfilled. Every day, when they sat one at each end of the large dining table, they said to each other:

"Mon Amour, wouldn't it be wonderful if we had a child?"

The scenario nearly always continued like this:

"Oui Cheri", the Queen responded to her husband while twirling her fork, "though not with… With…"

"What?"

"With you!" In a fit of dejection queen Persephone threw the fork to her empty plate with a shrill clatter.

"_Merde! _Why not me?" Merovingian's gaze drilled into hers as he sputtered curses in all directions. The queen covered her mischievously sneering lips with a linen handkercief.

"I just pity the child whom will have a nose and ears like yours."

Merovingian's chair crashed to the floor.

"_Sacre Bleu!__"_ He bawled, "if you don't want a child with me, there shall be no child at all!"

Persephone chuckled bemusedly. "I doubt so. Coincidentally, Chantelle called yesterday and asked for you. Splendid what they teach racing horses these days, isn't it?"

The Merovingian blanched markably. He shot her a deathglare before he stormed out towards Club Hel, in dire need of a drink. Left alone sat Persephone, still chortling softly to herself.

"Ah, time for my scented bath" she eventually said and stood up. "I'd abdicate rather than have another pompous bastard in the castle". Still, she couldn't help but feel a little curious about how a life with children could be.

But one day, during the Queen's customary morning bath, the phone rang. Since no one else was around at this particular floor of the castle, she had to rise from the bath tube and take the call herself. Aggravated by the disturbance she swept a bathrobe around her, padded over to the table where her cellphone lay and answered the call.

"Queen Persephone."

"You will bear a child."

At this statement, the queen dropped the phone. What kind of crazy person was this? Against what she considered better knowing, she picked up the phone to demand clarification from the caller.

"Who are you?"

"That's not important. What is important is that on March 11th next year, you will have a son. Good luck."

The person at the other end hung up, leaving Persephone utterly confused but with a small, unusual feeling of joy in her heart.

And the stranger's prophecy did indeed come true. On March 11th 1962 was the son of Merovingian and Persephone born, and there was much rejoicing. It was an extraordinarily cute child, with a tuft of black hair falling into his little face, and Persephone couldn't get enough of playing Peek-a-boo with him.

Merovingian arranged a big party to celebrate the birth of his son, and decided to invite the thirteen most powerful programs in Matrix so that they would be kind and generous toward the child. Sadly, he didn't have more than twelve golden plates, and rather than disclosing this system failure he let one of the programs be left at home.

On the day of the party, the twelve invited programs arrived. One by one, they went up to queen Persephone whom held her son, christened Neo, in her arms. Rama Kandra, well known for his skills in advanced programming, was the first. He gave the child a creative mind.

Then followed a beautiful woman in a red dress; Scarlett, the program of beauty and handsomeness. She never spoke much, but instead let her actions talk for her. As she came in front of the queen and her son, she picked the baby up in her arms and gave him a light peck on the forehead, blessing the child with handsomeness.

The General's turn. Obviously a bit drunk but only enough so to make him talkative, he held a long maudlin speech before granting the child a future as a great leader. It could be interesting to note, that unlike his parents, little Neo stayed awake and alert during the entire speech, even if he didn't understand a word of what the funny old program was saying.

Seraph's turn, and he gave a holy promise to teach the boy anything valuable he knew about kung-fu. After him came program four and five, the Twins. Without much decoration to their speech, they declared that once the kiddo was ready for it, he would be able to fly.

When the wish of only one program, The Oracle, remained, the thirteenth program suddenly strode in. The moment the guests saw him they pulled back in fear, as if their eyes had been burnt.

Agent Smith had always radiated a composed kind of cynicism (the main reason Merovingian had chosen to leave him uninvited), but this night he was a clear and present danger to anyone around him. Still it was obvious that all these negative feelings were aimed toward only the royal family. Mostly the king.

"Mr Merovingian… How pleasant to see that you and everyone else is enjoying themselves." Every word the agent spoke was a fatal sting to the king's earlier so cheerful mood.

"Why your majesty, why did not you send me an invitation? I could have arrived here, but now I was not even given a fair chance!" Smith leapt up to the Queen, who shied away with her child.

"And in response, your son will not be given a fair chance either." Fuming with disdain, the Agent turned to face his startled audience and declared in his usually well-articulated speech, his tone pointed by a barely restrained impulse to kill all and everyone in the room right where they sat:

"Shortly after the One, prophesied ruler of the Matrix, turns thirty-five, he will swallow a blue pill… And choke to death."

Everyone, both among characters in the book and its readers, trembled at these words. Only Mouse remained steady, sparring an invisible Agent. In the fairy tale, humans and programs swayed where they sat whilst the king bolted up from his throne.

"Curse you, Agent Smith!" He yelled, but the Oracle forced him back down in the seat by an urgent yank at his shirtsleeve. The Frenchman spat and hissed insults until the Oracle suddenly stood up and spoke:

"I put my veto against young Neo's demise, and I do it by mitigating of Smith's curse."

Faces hidden in palms were lifted, tears were dried, mutterings silenced at this statement.

"The One will not choke when he swallows the pill" she stated, "but instead fall asleep and remain so for one-hundred years, and only a kiss by the woman he faithfully and unendingly will love can wake him up."

Smith had stared at the Oracle with something empty in his gaze during the entire speech. Now a derisive laughter slowly rose in his throat, first a low cackle, then roaring with scorn and resonating against the walls.

"And to think, old hag, you should have the most wisdom of us! If it was not the most ineffective, insignificant programming of a prophecy I have ever heard, it was at least the most ludicrous!" He still sneered when exiting the dining hall, leaving the room as pristine as ever but the air sullied with uneasiness.

Silence fell, and lasted until it eventually was broken by a snap from the twelfth program's purse.

"Well dear friends, let's not linger on to bad things anymore. Candy?"

Her caring gesture was met with a kind of enervating silence, as everyone had lost their festival mood. The Oracle pulled her hand back with a troubled frown written on her sagely features.

"I've always told you to buy more golden porcelain anyway, my liege" she reproached the king and freed a mint pastille from its wrapping. The Merovingian glared at her during the entire procedure of unwrapping the caramel from its papercoating, before he finally cocked his head and grumbled something under his breath.

"Blah blah blah…" He reached for a golden goblet on the table, did not care whose it was.

"Ladies and gentlemen, despite all this I'd still like to propose a toast for the kingdom, my beautiful wife Persephone and our newborn son, Neo!"

The Oracle smiled to herself, looking across the table into the baby's wide eyes. While the sound volume in the hall slowly returned to what it had been before Smith's appearance, the wise old program said to the young prince in a voice so low only he could hear it:

"Now, kiddo, since I couldn't give you neither foresight or candy, I really hope you can arrange those things yourself."

Because the king knew a dead son would not be of any use when time came to pass on the power of the Matrix, he ordered immediate destruction of all blue pills in the country. Meanwhile, young Neo grew up.

He turned five. As he was a human 'adopted' right from the power plants for Persephone to bear, at times his parents found it difficult to understand the way he reasoned. Sometimes he didn't even seem to think, but acted upon what his father guessed must be the chemical reactions labelled 'emotions' in humans. It was these 'emotions' his parents could not figure out. Nonetheless, they loved their son in their own artificial way.

He turned fifteen, learned to fly and dodge bullets. The martial arts master Seraph taught him kung-fu.

He turned twenty-five, and moved to the west wing of the castle to get some privacy from his over-protective parents. Despite knowing their son would live at least until thirty-five, the Merovingians still couldn't help but watch over him like a pair of hawks. When he asked them right out about their vigilant treatment of him, his mother smiled in a kind of sad way before ruffling his ebony hair, waving the question off with some watery excuse: "Precious Neo, both I and your father know you're more than capable to take care of yourself, but parents will always be parents."

And one particularly beautiful day, he turned thirty-five. He no longer had to dodge bullets, but could stop them with his mere thoughts. Despite this striking ability he always remained a tad bit clumsy. At times Merovingian wondered if this was what Agent Smith's gift had been supposed to cure.

Otherways, though, he had grown up to fulfil any expectations you could have: he was handsome, good-natured, independent and modest. No wonder everyone loved him.

At his thirty-fifth birthday, the Chosen One was wandering the castle on his own.

Merovingian and Persephone were out on a sightseeing-trip, and he used the opportunity to check out the deepest corners of the castle. The cassock swept and billowed behind him as he wandered through the great mess hall, looking into wardrobes, kitchens, ballrooms and chambers. By the time Neo thought he'd seen the entire castle, he sat down at the lowest stair step in the entry hall to rest. His eyes fell on a small door opposite to him, one he didn't remember from earlier. Life as a royalty didn't contain many surprises, and Neo's curiosity soon got the better of him: He got up and crossed the hall to open the door.

Behind it he found a narrow and winding stair leading up to a door with a rusty key in the keyhole. Strange clicking sounds could be heard from inside the room. The prince quietly opened the door and stepped in. In the semi-darkness he could spot a person sitting in a simple wooden chair, busily assembling a handgun. Wellbehaved as he was, Neo decided to make the man aware of his presence.

"Good afternoon."

No slight jump, no look over the rim of smooth black sunglasses. But indeed an answer.

"Here at last, Mr Anderson. You took your time."

The One scratched his head.

"You're mistaken. I'm Neo, Persephone's and-"

"I am _not_ mistaken" the suit-clad man insisted with so much indignation he could not be anything but right. "There is no additional information about the pedigree of your family that interests me. Next question."

''Who are you?'' Neo asked, because now he had discovered that this was not a human, but a program who's shell imitated a human appearance.

The program did not look up from the Desert Eagle in his hands, only proceeded to shine the weapon until it gleamed like jewellery.

"Me? Hm, that is irrelevant". Not mentioning his true identity with a single word, Smith went on to reloading the gun. There was a great risk Merovingian and Persephone had warned their son of him - and the program was nowhere near ready to take that risk.

"But I know you, Mr Anderson. In fact you have been under my watch for quite awhile now."

"How long?" A shard in Neo's mind told him this program was not to trust. The suit shrugged.

"'Since the day you were born' would be a fairly accurate answer to that question."

Eventually the penny dropped for the One.

"… Smith?"

The royal couple might not have told their son exactly what happened during the party nearly thirty-five years ago, but they had told him enough about the program's vicious and cynical nature. Neo backed a step towards the door with his fists ready to fend off a blow. Smith stood up with his gun loaded and aimed at the black-clad shape.

"Surprised to see a door where there only was a wall before, Mr Anderson? Well you should be. That door has a purpose, to appear just today for The One to see it."

Neo reached the door, but searched its surface in vain; no lock or knob or door handle on the inside - he was trapped!

"Do not ask if you can escape" Smith grinned, "ask _why_ you try to escape the inevitable."

"This isn't over yet" the human replied, desperately scanning the wall for another escape way with his back turned against the agent.

"Yes it is. You see mr Anderson, I can always count on _ourselves _for help."

Smith-clones burst out of all wardrobes and corners in the room with their handguns pointed at the One. The copies simultaneously fired their weapons at the prince, only to have their bullets instantly deflected by his mind. When they realized that an attempt to simply shoot the heir of the kingdom would do no good, that they actually would have to bother and make him swallow a blue pill, the programs dropped their guns and prepared for close combat instead.

Morpheus skimmed through the following passage of the text, a very violent description of how the prince kicked the asses of Smith-clones number 37, 59, 85 and 41 in order of numbers, and found it unsuitable for children to hear. As discretely as possible, he browsed by pages 11 through 25 and continued from the part where the clones managed to overpower Neo.

The agent pressed his palm over Neo's mouth and nose, successfully strangling his air supply. Smith hardly flinched as two sharp teethrows sunk into his palm.

"Ow!" Came an unision shout from the many copies, barely 0,00008 nanoseconds later. Smith watched the coded blood run down his wrist and down his thumb, the shirt cuff slowly turning red.

"You can try all you want, Mr Anderson. In case of my failure there are still hundreds of me to finish my work."

At the insight of this, Neo's determination to fight seemed to weaken, the grip his teeth held on Smith's palm weakening a bit. The agent tipped his hand downward, coaxing a blue pill into the One's mouth. Careful to do a clean and proper work, he used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe the blood from Neo's face.

The human choked slightly as he felt the blue pill slip down his throat. He didn't know what was supposed to happen next. Did the pill have any terrible side effects besides killing him? Would he be in a lot of pain or die a fast and painless death? Slowly the agent let go of Neo and stood up, but a few copies kept their unsecured Desert Eagles trained at him. Smith threw an annoyed look at them.

''Put your weapons down, he is not a threat to us anymore!''

The copies did as they were told and holstered their weapons before their eyes turned back to watch the stumbling human before them.

Neo stood on unsteady legs and tried to focus on the Smiths, but was met by a spinning room. He stumbled on an invisible foot and fell, but didn't hit his head fatally. Now when only a one-hundred year long lethargy could bring him down, there was nothing that could alter the One's fate. Grasping for purchase he found the arm support of the chair Smith had been sitting in. Slowly he slumped down along the side of the chair, his head resting against the wooden leg.

All activity outside the tower room ceased.

Club Hel's residing visitors suddenly dropped like flies, and among them fell the henchman Cain with one girl by each arm. So did the Trainman in his train, but due to unhygienic habits he fell alone.

The kung-fu master Seraph and his pupils yawned, stretched out in horizontal position on their bamboo mats, and soon the dojo was filled with serene snores.

Every program and human in the castle fell asleep. Also the Keymaker, gatekeeper of the castle, dropped a bunch of keys and huddled up in his chair. Henchmen, servants, guests and chefs, the king in his library and the queen in her chambers... Though Persephone did not drop off in a bookshelf.

Neo struggled to raise his arms, but they didn't obey any longer. Smith's face floated into view.

"At last" he contemplated the One's struggle, "my revenge on the entire royal family". Leaning down he closed Mr Anderson's eyes and held his eyelids down, sabotaging the man's will power further.

"Sleep well, Mr Anderson. After thirty-five years we have finally settled the scores". The agent stood up again, facing his copies.

"Install a dozen firewalls around the castle and let this area clutter with glitches. We need a safe point to rule the Matrix from".

Now the Smith-copies took over the kingdom; Dark times ensued with a new vicious ruler on the throne and poverty for the people.

And somewhere inside the castle, the One would slumber for onehundred years…

* * *

And there we leave at the moment. Reviews and constructive critisism are very welcome!


	3. Nearly hundred years later

**Chapter 2**

**Nearly hundred years later…**

It was another rainy Friday Night at the agency. Uncharacteristically lazy agent Jackson sat slumped back in a sofa, zapping between the TV channels.

'' What's on the tube tonight?'' His long-time companion, agent Thompson, asked from his post at the window.

'' Nothing worthwhile. _Alas Smith and Jones_, _Mr Smith Goes to Washington, A boy named Charlie Brown, Numb3rs__…''_

The cell phone beside him beeped and began to ring. Jackson picked it up and answered. After a brief pause, he covered the earpiece and glanced sideways at the other agent.

'' It's Johnson. Rebels tracked to one of the Exile leader's premises. We are delegated to find them and destroy them''.

'' Order approved'' Thompson replied, clattering with the car keys. '' The Merovingian's restaurant, it was''. They stood up, hung up the phone and went for their car parked outside.

--

'' But this long-lasting tyranny was about to crumble for a dawning…''

The sound of fists slamming the door to splinters cut off Morpheus' reading aloud, the small group around him stiffening when the door buckled in its hinges, and lastly crashed open.

An awkward silence settled as Agent Thompson, accompanied by Jackson, emerged where the door previously had been, both wearing grim expressions on their faces. Slowly Thompson straightened his back, brushed some dust off his jacket and motioned for his firearm.

'' Hold it!'' Persephone put up her aristocratic hand in a warning manner.

'' You boys seem to be some capable fellows, don't you? Strong, sly…'' The program put her fingertips together, resting her chin upon them in a sense of relaxed omniscience.

'' But there's just a tiny little detail amiss. Do you know what that is, Thompson?''

By now, the addressed agent's stern expression had softened for a more airy one, though he still tried to maintain some dignity by keeping his sunglasses on. Persephone changed object of attention.

'' Do you know what upgrades you lack, Jackson?''

Said agent looked introspective.

'' Cultivation''.

'' Not a bad guess!'' Persephone said in a way that let them understand the answer could be anything. She gestured towards Morpheus.

'' So - why not join the book club right here? Certainly you will be… _tender_ enough for me afterwards''.

With a last bat of her eyelashes and a flirtatious eyeblink aimed at none in particular, she left the room. Merovingian instantly shot up from his seat, rushing after his wife.

'' 'Sephone!'' And his speech was indignant, blunt at the edges and missing several syllables. '' 'Ow dare you, 'tray me right under my nose!''

Meanwhile, the two agents were racing in the opposite direction.

'' She winked at _me_!''

'' No, me! You couldn't be educated to save yourself!''

'' I've got dibs on this chair, moron!''

Many landed punches later, they sat among the confused kids, smiling angelic smiles. The computer terrorist's upper lip twitched to bare his teeth, like some lupine creature, clearly showing his displeasure with having two upgrades greedily contemplating him.

At last however he seemed to shake it off, considering it was Persephone they wanted and not the rebels this time. Picking up the red thread of the fairytale again, he recited the next lines of the story to his listeners.

--

Meanwhile the Matrix decayed outside, king Smith sat lazily slumped back on his throne popping Non-stop caramels, skimming through a volume of _novels with a purpose _and believing he was safe now when the true heir of the kingdom lay, as the agent thought, dead, upstairs. It was late in the afternoon, so much did he know, but the careless life he lived (without even bothering to open the calendars the federal post office sent out) had cost him his track of time.

_If _the program had been as mindful as in the past, he would notice it was March 11th, 2097. The firewalls ceased to update, and by nightfall they would be down at 80 percent of their normal capacity. Now only a royal female, daring enough to fight thousands of the Smiths inside the castle, had to come by.

It would be a shame to say nobody had tried to free The One: princess Tyndall of Construct, queen Pace of Source and lady Switch of Mainframe- all of them tried and failed, because the firewalls served too great obstacles.

Of course, that was before lady Trinity of Zion came racing along the abandoned road on her obsidian-colored Ducati.

Raised with computer hacking, combat training and driving lessons, by the age of thirty-four lady Trinity was not only a levelheaded, courageous and skilled woman, but also second-in-command at the ship Nebucadnezzar. In spite of being rumoured as cold and ruthless to her foes, she was warm-hearted toward her friends, always ready to help those who needed it. Perhaps she wasn't acting fully as demure as people thought _real_ princesses should, but the real world required a different kin of princess than what fairytales usually offer you.

She stopped by a down-worn gas station to refill the motorcycle's petrol tank. When this was done, she went inside the station building to pay.

While she searched her wallet for even money, the woman behind the counter examinated her curiously.

''Say, aren't you the princess of Zion?'' She asked after half a minute or so.

Trinity gave a confirming nod while rummaging around for a five dollar-bill.

''Then you're out to try and free The One, aren't you?''

Now Trinity looked up from her wallet, wondering what that was supposed to mean.

''The one who?''

''Neo, The One, heir of the kingdom! He's been asleep for a hundred years now.'' The woman leaned closer and lowered her voice ''It's told that he is wonderfully handsome, and-'' Now her face was mere inches from Trinity's ''- The rumour says he's got the prettiest eyes in the country. Imagine to return home with a man like that by your side, eh?'' She raised her eyebrows in a meaning way.

Trinity seemed sceptical though.

''Hasn't anyone tried to wake him up?''

''No, and I suggest you don't try either. You see, everyone whom has tried so far has died a rather pitiful death. The castle is full of doors leading into nowhere, suddenly vaporizing floors, stone walls that materialize right on top of one…You get the deal.''

Trinity hesitated only a fraction of a second. Thereafter, she turned to the shop assistant again.

'' How do I drive to get there?''

--

From the quickly sinking sun everything glared in cupper; the treetops, her leather jacket, the bike's shell. Eager to try reaching the castle, Trinity hustled her way through the overgrown entrance way.

However, two-hundred yards from final destination the bike suddenly plunged into an invisible barrier. Unlike many other princesses (poor pansies whom had tried to protect their pretty faces), Trinity survived her slam into the unseen wall, simply by using her arms as a front bumper. Getting up, she inspected what little was to be contemplated.

'' Damn firewalls. Well, this one shouldn't be too difficult…'' Trinity ran a gloved hand along the barrier, deciding it was more fragile than usual, and picked out her cell phone. Calling a number back in Zion, she waited impatiently.

A person answered at the other end of the line.

'' Royal Warrant Link''.

'' It's the lady of Zion here. I need a firewall hacking program and a keyboard''.

The person at the other end of the line shuffled with something, possibly a stack of computers descs.

'' One HP DeskJet keyboard-''

The object materialized by her feet.

'' - Plus a firewall hacking program, served up hot!''

For a brief second, Trinity felt like her synapses were cooked, and she gripped tighter around the phone frame. But as soon as it came, the sensation eased.

'' Thanks Link, I think that will do''. Hanging up the phone, she went to work.

Firewall by firewall broke down for the Zion lady's commandos; sometimes flames blazed up when they vaporized, and she got in a hurry to move the fuel-filled bike. Other times giant iron spikes shot out of earth and nearly impaled both tires and passenger. But at the whole Trinity made it to the castle's front lawn alive - only to discover the heavy oak doors were locked.

But you don't give up after reaching as far as the lady of Zion had done. Instead she climbed back on her motorcycle, took aim on a ground-level window and rushed the engine. White exhaust fumes arose when she kicked off in 70 mph, streamlined-

Glass burst under the front wheel and drizzled down on the floor like rain, and in the midst of it all swerved the equipage through powdered plaster and mortar. The bike thundered further until Trinity braked; Finally she was inside the castle.

The odd feeling of to have crashed into an icy winter-lake came over her. Faint green light bathed the room, radiated by a neon sign saying Club Hel. The air was musty, but the strangest of all was the former club's visitors. Like seaweed in swells they swayed back and forth, soundless save from the…

''… Snoring?'' And now she saw everything clearly. They were asleep, but crammed so close together none had place to stretch out. Everytime somebody leaned over a little too much, their neighbouring sleepers must follow the move.

It was sophomoric to watch this slow dance. Trinity shook her head, climbed off the motorcycle and began exploring the castle halls.

On a chair inside the oak entrance sat the most peculiar man she'd ever seen, slumped over like a clasp-knife with dozens and dozens of keys hanging in chains around his waist. Without a second's hesitation Trinity bowed down and detached every key that seemed small enough for indoors use.

On some of them stood written things such as 'bathroom', 'kitchen', 'livingroom', and one said 'a little bit of everything'. Fastening the chain around her elbow, the Zion lady began her quest.

She went through bedrooms, cabinets and conference halls. She opened doors, closed them…

--

- Morpheus noticed the children's impatient faces, and decided to skip a few lines:

''… When suddenly Smith-copy 28 exited out of a nearby restroom!''

* * *

Morgane: And Trinity's in! We're leaving you with a -well, not so mean cliffhanger until next chapter. See you then !


	4. And they lived happily ever after

**Chapter 3 **

**...And they lived happily ever after **

'' Your days are numbered!'' Smith nr 28 exclaimed while buttoning his pants, and with one swift move he lunged first free hand into Trinity's stomach, determined to overwrite her code. Trinity calmly watched the ooze spread over her, before doing what any woman does when wrong man touches her: She kicked Smith in the groin.

An unison ''uuuuugh…'' came from all Smith clones in the area, as everyone followed 28's example and sank to the floor. Meanwhile, Trinity kicked off the dark copy-substance from her boots and proceeded like nothing had happened, now having temporarily eliminated the only enemy within these walls. As said earlier, she was ruthless to her foes.

Unfortunately, so was also Smith.

'' After her!'' And a dozen of the strongest clones crawled up on their feet and raced after her. Trinity was at the head of the arrow-shaped formation, and remained so until they reached the dining hall where the chase ended, because Trinity burst in through a door she'd never seen before...

Forcefully it slammed shut, and Trinity slid into sitting position on the floor, pressing her shoulders against the door to make sure it was fully closed and locked. The agents might be strong enough to chop it to toothpickers within seconds, but alas she wasn't gonna help them get her by leaving the door open.

Nothing happened. It was like the Smiths had been abolished the moment she entered this room. Possibly they didn't dare to follow her inside it- Perhaps something horrifying lurked in here? Trinity surveyed the room, but found nothing but a windling stairway. Hold it, a stairway? This area wasn't explored!

The lady of Zion got up. If the room where the One slept was at the top of a tower as the rumour said, this was worth a try.

Outside, Smith 87 tore off his shades.

'' Damn'' he said to (the ninety-nine other) himself. '' She's gone to break the curse!''

'' No worries. The One is dead, have you forgotten that?'' One of the closest copies responded.

Smith-copy 87 hesitated a moment. He realized all other copies were firmly convinced that The One was dead, and that he most likely would be passed off as a system failure if he kept arguing. Therefore he only ordered a few lower-rank copies to stay outside and watch the door- just in case.

If the program had been as mindful as in the past, he would have remembered they had added a window to the tower.

* * *

Trinity was slowly wandering up the stair, one step at the time in case there were some glitches left.

At the top of the stair she stopped to inspect the door's lock. After judging it as intact and glitchless she produced the key saying 'a little bit of everything' from the inside of her pocket and put it to use in the old lock.

It worked. Pushing the door open, Trinity quietly stepped in - and discovered him.

In the middle of the room half sat, half lay the sleeping form of The One, supported in an awkward position against the side of an old armchair. Sleeping in that uncomfortable way seemed to put a slight strain to his breathing. Without figuring further, Trinity ran over to kneel by the man's side. Carefully she lifted his head up to let him lean against her, his head resting on her upper arm. Making sure that the man could breath properly again, Trinity removed her shades to have a closer look at him in the fading daylight from the windows.

He was so handsome. Pale from a century out of the sun, yes, but not waxen as you could have expected. Smooth black hair fell down over his chiselled features and well-shaped eyebrows. Looking that young, it was impossible to believe he in truth was more than hundred years old.

A new longing gripped the lady of Zion: she wanted to see his rumoured eyes.But wait a minute; how do you wake a person who has slept a hundred years? The world was not the same it had been a century ago. He might be frightened. From what the history books told, Matrix had been a happy place until the royal family fell asleep.

She shook him gently, whispering his name:

''Wake up, Neo.''

When he didn't seem to react, she tried once more and spoke a little louder.

After a few minutes of calling his name with gradually rising tone of voice, she leaned back against the chair to catch her breath. The One still snoozed in her arms, oblivious to the rest of the world. Absently stroking his cheek, Trinity tried to think of some other way to wake the prince.

Or…or what if she wasn't the woman meant to wake him? If she only was meant to open the doors for some other female? A girl who looked just like a princess was supposed to do, one with golden hair, face and manners sweet like candy, one who in opposite to Trinity was in dire need of someone to protect her? One who just happened to stumble across this castle with a handsome prince sleeping inside, and after a simple 'wake up, Neo' would make him open his pretty eyes and fall madly in love to her?

She looked down at the One, shaking her head at herself. ''C'mon, Trinity. Pull yourself together. At least you cleared out a century of glitches.''

What was up with her, really? She didn't even know what this man was like. He could be a real egoist. Alas, this was what she tried to convince herself, that his royal background had made him greedy and pompous.

But something made her doubt that. The serenity and innocence he radiated felt true, not just the temporary guiltlessness most humans have while sleeping but lose as soon as they open their eyes. And Trinity had to accept the fact that somehow, she had grown very attached to a person she first saw fifteen minutes ago.

While still figuring about a way to wake him up, the lady of Zion was alerted by the slight noise of a sigh and the sight of a frown creasing the One's brow. He did not seem to have very pleasant dreams.

She thought frantically of a way to somehow comfort him, and suddenly it was as clear to her as if someone had said it aloud.

Leaning down toward the prince, she whispered a few words to him:

'' Wake up, Sleeping Handsome''.

In the fraction of a second her lips ghosted over his, before she leaned in and kissed him.

A gust of breath flared past her cheek, as when someone inhales deeply, slowly. Trinity lingered on for a moment, before she drew back and opened her eyes to look down into his.

Two chocolatebrown eyes looked up at her with a warmth she hadn't been expecting. They glistened in the semi-darkness, and without really registering it, the thought 'those really are pretty' floated into the princess' mind.

They contemplated each other in silence for a while. Then, The One's face lighted up with the brightest smile.

'' Thank you'' he whispered, squeezing her hand gratefully, '' for waking me up''.

It was a surprisingly smooth voice after sleeping in the dust this long, low and gentle. The One watched Trinity intently, as if he'd seen everything in proper light for the very first time.

'' What's your name?'' He added in a more questioning tone. The beautiful woman before him responded with a warm genuine smile; she beamed with strength and love.

'' Trinity, lady of Zion''.

'' Trinity'' he repeated, tasting the name. Bold syllables and intensive vocals, '' beautiful.''

'''''''''''''''

Seeing it as the doorway still was blocked with Smith-copies, Neo decided to make use of that nice panorama-window instead.

'' I might be a bit rusty at this…'' He started, but Trinity gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder: she trusted him. It was a nice feeling, and he hoped he wouldn't screw this up - else this fairytale would get a rather flat ending. Picking her up in bride style, Neo charged at the window just like Trinity had done about a half hour ago. He ran and jumped over the tower edge with her in his arms, plunging towards the cliffs below…

And then the duo shot upwards like a bottle cork, wild winds in their wake as they swivelled through the air. Finally, Neo seemed to think it was high enough, and dived for the castle in a steep but controlled sinking —

--

''— Is this the part where they sing 'A Whole New World'?'' One of the agents suddenly asked.

'' What part is that?'' Morpheus browsed through the book, confused. Sati cleared her throat.

'' Uncle Jackson is probably thinking of 'Aladdin''' she said.

Agent Thompson spun towards his companion, face contorted with wrath.

'' Seriously, you watch more Disney-movies than acceptable!''

''Can we finish the story now?'' Persephone stormed out from the backdoor she had disappeared through, and the haunted gaze she gave Morpheus was urgent enough to make him continue reading.

--

They landed as planned mere inches from the porch up to the main entrance. The moment they opened the doors Queen Persephone dashed out and embraced her son in a welcoming, motherly hug. In her face were still imprints of the creases in the bed coverlet and her hair was tangled, but somehow she'd made it past all Smith-copies.

''Son!'' She exclaimed while hugging Neo tightly. Upon releasing him, she noticed Trinity standing two steps away.

''Daughter-in-law!'' Persephone cried out, though surveying the lady of Zion meticulously while shaking her hand. Behind her came Merovingian, whom gave his adoptive-son a curt nod before facing Trinity.

'' Ah, but she's _magnifique!_ '' Trinity, looking quite aghast, received a welcoming peck on both cheeks before the Frenchman stepped back.

'' Well zen, where's Smith?''

'' Let's simply say he had a change of heart''. The Keymaker came out from behind the oak entrance he had unlocked when the curse broke. The program didn't say more, but you could see him fiddling with the keys to Merovingian's immense, never-ending spare wardrobe.

--

'' Upon being told their leader had been overthrown, the Smith-copies fled in all directions'' Morpheus recited the book, chewing on newly baked biscuits. The Oracle had arrived at last, and brought along a cookie jar for all and everyone to take from. The youngsters already had eaten half a dozen each - Spoon boy with just a spoon - but the Merovingian had barely crunched at his, still upset with Persephone's treachery.

''Prince Neo of Matrix and princess Trinity of Zion married each other on a beautiful wedding ceremony in Zion three months after Neo had been unplugged (it seemed that sleeping for so long somehow had conserved his body outside the Matrix, so he could present himself as a 135 years old person whom looked like he wasn't a day above 37)''.

And then, they lived happily ever after, with a love stronger than mountains and more beautiful than the sunrise-''

Morpheus looked over the edge of the book and noticed an intensively frowning Sati..

'' What is it, Sati?''

'' What happened to the Keymaker? Or the Merovingians? What about Oracle?''

'' Oh, did I miss something good?'' Said program inserted

'' Yeah, what the hell just happened?'' Niobe sounded considering, absent-mindedly preventing Mouse from snatching the book out of Morpheus grip.

The question was a bit unexpected: usually it was enough with the standard 'and they lived happily ever after', but then again this wasn't a very usual audience. The computer terrorist realized he would have to improvise.

'' Okay… The Keymaker stayed and served as a door-keeper for many more decades with five weeks of holiday every year. Merovingian and Persephone never retired entirely from the political affairs, just withdrew long enough to make a sun-trip that would hopefully improve their marriage-''

'' Hm'' came a stiff gruff from the Frenchman, Persephone ignoring him like any other time.

''Oracle…'' Morpheus threw a glance at the program, who nodded.

''Go on, I can forgive you for this one'' she told him. The human nodded, took a deep breath and rabbled very rapidly:

'' The-Oracle-married-a-program-called-The-Architect-and-they-became-royal-advisors.'' Morpheus paused to take a sip of water from the glass Niobe handed him, ignoring the quiet giggles around the room.

''Any other questions?'' He continued once he had quenched his thirst.

Instantly, Sati's hand shot into the air, and Morpheus nodded in her direction. ''Yes?''

''Did Neo and Trinity have any kids?''

Apparently she was concerned about the future of her idols. Morpheus thought intensively for a moment. Should he, or should he not, say yes?

A glance at the faces around the room was answer enough: everyone craved a 100-percent happy ending.

'' Yes …'' he said slowly, desperately searching for fitting names to introduce these non-existent kids of his friends and colleagues, ''a son named Retro and a daughter named Unity-''

He was interrupted by loud booings and wolf-whistles from the agents.

''Retro and Unity?! How lame can you humans get?!''

Both agents elicited a yelp when the heavy fairytale volume rammed their heads, leaving Thompson dazed and confused in the heap of pillows he had collected around him.

It took Morpheus a second to realize it wasn't he who had lunged the object towards the programs, but something else. Following the book's course of flight, he spotted Neo in the door entrance with his right hand reached out as if he had been calling for the book.

'' Retro and Unity it was'' Trinity strode out from behind her boyfriend.

'' Still… lame'' Jackson groaned.

Nebucadnezzar's second-in-command ignored him, instead greeting her superior.

''I'm sorry we didn't make it in time to hear the fairytale, it looks like we really missed something'' she apologized, changing the clips in her guns in passing.

''No worries. Did you have a nice evening?''

''You bet'' Neo answered, exchanging a glance with his girlfriend. Trinity gave him a quick smile before turning to their captain.

'' I believe you had something more to say, Morpheus?''

Said person remained silent for a few moments, contemplating the room's residing inhabitants. Persephone busily pulling out the agents from their pillow heap, obviously estimating which one was good-looking enough to stay. Sati and the boys munching lazily on too many cookies, the Oracle having a smoke. Neo and Trinity holding hands while smiling at each other, every so often leaning in to give each other a peck on the cheek.

There was only one more thing left to do. Morpheus stood up and dusted the cookie grains off his cloak.

'' And then they lived happily ever after. The end.''

--

Yep, the end. Thank you for the reviews, people, it's great to get some response to one's work (especially if it's nice praise and/or constructive critique :-) )


End file.
